Office of Inspector General Hotline

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) maintains a Hotline to facilitate the reporting of allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) programs or operations. If you wish to report such allegations, you may call, send a letter, or email the OIG Hotline as identified at the right. The OIG also has personnel at our 11 locations to receive allegations in person. Allegations may be reported by DOE employees, DOE contractors, or the general public.

The OIG Hotline can intake unclassified and classified complaints. However, classified complaints must be transmitted though secure Government communications systems approved for transmission of information at the specified level of classification. The contact information posted here is for unclassified complaints only. For classified complaints, contact the OIG hotline and appropriate arrangements will be made for secure complaint intake.

Complainants are encouraged to provide relevant and specific details of their complaints, including the identity of the person, company, or organization alleged to have engaged in wrongdoing; a description of the alleged impropriety; the DOE facility and program affected by the alleged misconduct; contract numbers; date(s) of alleged wrongdoing; how the complainant is aware of the alleged impropriety; the identity of potential witnesses; and the identity and location of supporting documentation.

Contractors shall timely disclose, in writing, to the Office of Inspector General, with a copy to the Contracting Officer, whenever the Contractor has credible evidence that a principal, employee, agent, or subcontractor of the Contractor has committed a violation of the civil False Claims Act or of Federal criminal law involving fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or gratuity violations in connection with the award, performance, or closeout of a contract or any related subcontract. The individual making the disclosure must be an officer or manager empowered to speak for the company. Additional information regarding these reporting requirements can be found in the December 12, 2008, FAR Amendment at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-26953.htm.

Complaint processing:

Upon receipt of a specific allegation of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement, the OIG may take any one of the following actions: open an investigation, audit, or inspection; refer the matter to DOE management for appropriate review and action; or refer the allegation to another Federal agency. Allegations with limited specificity or merit may be held in abeyance until further, specific details are reported, or closed.

Complainants may remain anonymous:

Individuals who contact the Hotline are not required to provide their identity to the Hotline operator. However, persons who report allegations are encouraged to identify themselves in the event additional questions arise as the OIG evaluates or pursues their allegations.

Confidentiality:

Confidentiality for DOE federal employees is established by Section 7(b) of the IG Act, which prevents the IG from disclosing the identity of a DOE federal employee who reports an allegation or provides information, without the employee’s consent, unless the IG determines that disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the investigation. Because of their unique role within DOE, the IG also applies this provision to DOE facilities management contractor employees. All others who report allegations are not entitled to confidentiality automatically. Such individuals may request confidentiality and these requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Individuals who are granted confidentiality are additionally advised that:

Confidentiality applies only to one’s identity, not to the information provided (i.e., the IG may, if necessary, share the facts and circumstances provided by the individual);

They may later consent to release their identity;

Their identity may be disclosed to other OIG personnel, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies or may be disclosed pursuant to court order or Congressional committee request;

Their identity will be included in OIG files, memoranda, records, etc.;

The OIG cannot control the extent to which other persons to whom they reported allegations or information will protect their identity;

Given the nature of the information provided by the person, other individuals, including coworkers, subordinates, supervisors, etc., may deduce or infer the OIG’s source of the information; and,

A request for confidentiality may preclude the OIG from taking further action, if the information provided is of such a specific or personal nature that action could not be taken without the disclosure of identity (e.g., a person alleges retaliation).

Status Inquiries:

Complainants may inquire as to the status of a prior complaint by contacting the Hotline via email. However, the only information that will be provided is OPEN or CLOSED status. No other information will be provided. If you elected anonymity at the time you filed your complaint, no information will be provided. Once the file is closed, complainants may file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain further details related to the complaint.

Post-Complaint:

Due to Privacy Act and OIG Policy restrictions, the OIG Hotline will not proactively provide status updates on your complaint.